Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

Chen Shui-bian released

Taipei Times

Former president Chen Shui-bian waves to supporters while leaving Taichung Prison on medical parole yesterday.
Photo: Reuters

Ailing former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) was released from prison on medical parole yesterday, after serving six years for a graft conviction relating to his presidency.

Chen, in a wheelchair and holding a cane, left the prison accompanied by his son, Chen Chih-chung (陳致中), for a month of medical treatment. He waved to a group of supporters waiting outside before boarding a car arranged by prison authorities to take him to his home in Greater Kaohsiung.

Chen Shui-bian parole decision expected today

Taipei Times

The fate of jailed former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) request for medical parole is to be decided by noon today, the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) said yesterday.

Deputy Minister of Justice Chen Ming-tang (陳明堂) pledged that the decision would be made public at about noon on the first workday of the year — after a 10-member assessment team headed by Agency of Corrections Director Wu Sen-chang (吳憲璋) reaches its final determination.

Former US Senate leader Dole calls for pressure on Obama to support Taiwan

Taipei Times

Former US Senate majority leader and presidential candidate Bob Dole has urged the US Congress to increase pressure on the White House to help Taiwan build its own submarines.

US President Barack Obama should reinvigorate his “pivot to Asia” and at the same time “accommodate the security needs of Taiwan, our nation’s friend and ally,” Dole said in an article published by the Washington Times.

Sunflowers boosted the economy

Huang Tien-lin 黃天麟

On Dec. 18 last year, the Asian Development Bank estimated Taiwan’s GDP growth rate for last year at 3.6 percent, 0.14 percent higher than the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research’s October estimate of 3.46 percent. The Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics’ (DGBAS) figure, to be released soon, is likely to fall somewhere between these two.

Most notable last year was that growth forecasts from a range of organizations continued to rise following the Sunflower movement in March and April. Had it not been for food safety scandals associated with the Ting Hsin International Group (頂新國際集團), the economic performance would likely have been even better.

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